Shock-absorbing device for vehicles



Jan. 251923. 1,440,830.

R. H. HAssLEH. y SHO-CK ABSOBING DEVICE FOR VEHICLES;

man JUNE 17, 1.92.1.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

I elle l5/ is5L Jan. 2, 1923.

R. H. HASSLER.

SHCK ABSORBING DEVICE FOR VEHICLES..

FILED IUNE I7. |921. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

,4 Tree/:05%

a EL? a ROBERT H. HASSLET., OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDNA.

SHOCK-ABSORBING DEVICE FOR VEHICLES.

Application :filed June 17,

.To all fwn/0m it may concern.'

Be it known that l, Roemer H. Hassnnn, a citizen of the United States,residing at indianapolis, in the county of Marion and State of indiana,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shock-AbsorbingDevices for Vehicles, of which the following is a specification,

rllhis invention relates to a system of ve* hicle springs and shockabsorbers, being specific form of the invention more broadly claimed inmy pending application :tiled May 16, 1921, Serial No. 470,121 whichcoact with one another to produce condi-A tions of easy-riding under allcircumstances of road travel and under variable conditions ofvehicle-loading.

1t is well understood by automobile engineers that stiff damping forcesare needed on vehicle springs when road conditions impose violentoscillations of long period or of relatively slow movement., and thatsuch damping forces are very objectionable when the road conditions setup small oscillations of short rapid character.

The principal object of my present invention is to provide a shockabsorber of a retar'ding or damping type, which will act veryeffectually on the vehicle springs at times when such action is mostneeded, and which will be inactive at times when damping action is notabsolutely necessary or desired.

1 accomplish the above objects of the invention, and such others as mayappear from a perusal of the following description, by means of one ofmy prefered embodiments, illustrated in the accompanying drawings,forming a part hereof, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation showing thevarious parts of one form of my invention under normal loadv position.Fig. 2 is a top or plan view of the construction shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3is a fragmentary detail horizontal view, partly in plan and partly insection, on the plane 3 3 in Fig. 1. Fig. l is a vertical cross section,on the pla-ne 4 4: in Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a fragmentary detail verticalsectional view, on an enlarged scale, on the plane 5 5 in Fig. 1. Fig. 6is a cross sectional view, on a considerably enlarged scale,'of thefriction device, on the plane 6 6 in Fig. 1. Fig. 7 is a view. similarto Fig. 1, except that the parts are shown in position when subjected toviolent compressive shocks. Fig. 8 is a view similar to 1921. Serial No.478,238.

Fig. 7, except that the parts are shown in extreme position of rebound.

A Referring to the drawings, 10 is the main or leaf spring which issecured intermediate its ends to the axle 11 of the vehicle. 12 is thevehicle fra-me member. The adj acent ends of. the main spring 10 and themember i2 are connected together by means of a lever 16, the latterbeing connected to a point 1A intermediate its ends to the adjacenteyeend of the main spring 10 and the outer end of the lever beingconnected to the end of frame member 12 by means of the shackles 17. Asshown in Fig. 3, lever 16 is formed a part of its length of a pair ofside niembers which are united by means of the ribs 16a, and lever 16 isfurther providedat an intermediate portion,'preferably between its pointof connection with main spring l0 and the free end of the lever, with aweb 16b which forms a seat for the lower end of a supplemental spring`15 the upper end of the latter spring bearing against a spring seat 18which is rigidly secured to frame member 12 by means of bolts 19.

To Acontrol the action of the organization under excessive recoil orrebound movements of the vehicle parts, so as to minimize the danger anddisagreeable effects of such Amovements, 1 provide a checking or dampingdevice which is preferably carried by the frame member 12. This dampingdevice contemplates the use of a circular baseplate or disk 2O which issecurely bolted to an upright lug 18 formed integrally with spring-seat18 by means of a central stud 21. Stud 21 also supports a tilting-leverwhich forms a part of the damping device. This tilting-lever comprises adisk portion 22 having a single integral arm 2li. Disk portion 22 of thetilting-lever is held out of direct contact with the base-plate 20 andan outer pressure plate 25 by means of the friction disks 26 and 27which contact the sides of disk 22, which friction disks are alsocarried by stud 21. Pressure is applied to cause the friction disks 26and 27 to frictionally engage the adjacent surfaces of disk portion 22of the tilting-lever by means of a plurality of springs 28 which arearranged concentrically around stud 21 and bear against the outersurface of pressure plate 25. rFliese springs are held in operativeposition by means of the pins 29 which are mounted in a cap 8O whichyslips over the end of stud 21, said cap being susceptible of movement onsaid stud so as to increase or decrease the compression on the springs28 by means of a nut 31. l

Arm 2l of the tilting-lever ot the damping device is connected to theadjacent end of lever 16 by means ot a. one-way connection so that whenthe movement of the vehicle parts exceeds a predetermined magnitudeunder or compressive shockswhen the vehicle parts are moved toward eachother into the position shown in Fig. 7'- the upward movement of leverlo is ot sufiicient range to oscillate the tilting-lever from' y itsnormal position shown in Fig. l to that shown in llig. 7. rlhis lastmentioned movement oil the parts sets the damping' device so that itschecking or damping effectiveness becomes immediately available inyieldably restraining the movement oi? rebound of the vehicle parts l0and l?. To permit a predetermined latitude olf movement ot the vehicleparts before imparting any action to .the damping device, l torni aconnector link oit two members comprising' a hollow sleeve 32 which isoscillatively supported on arm 24; by means oi a screw-bolt 33, and aconnecting-rod 3-lwhich pivotally connects at one end with lever Il@ andthe opposite end slidingly pro] ectinp; through thel hollow portion ofsleeve 32. This one-way connection,"together with the longitudinaladjustability ot acollar 37) on connectinpgrod Si, not only limits theenforced movement ot arinQil on the part ot lever 16 during' the upwardtravel oit the latter, but the time ot such movement oi arm 24 may be soregw lated that the vehicle parts are Atree to move unrestrained withinprescribed limitsbei'ore .collar 35 is moved into contact with the endoi? sleeve 32, and Jthe lrange of movement of arm 2l may be controlledso as to practically remove the slack `trom :Flexible element 37 whichdirectly connects the tree end ot arm 2st with the main spring' l0.

rllhe load oil the vehicle is carried by the frame member through thesupplemental spring l5, lever 1G shackle and main spring` l0 to the axlel1. y

ln considering the operation oit the various parts and the peculiaradvantages sought to be obtained by my invention, it is desirable toiirst consider the parts in the normal load position, as shown in Fig'.l oi the draw- .In'this view the partsl are approximatelyin thcpositionthey would assume when the vehicle is being driven over smooth roadsurfaceaduring which time the main and supplemental springs l0i and loare not unduly, flexedv ,in-ieitheii.direction from the abovefmentioned4 position by. the minor stresses,,imposedbyY small Iobstaclesyand depressions in,the road surface.V Under this; conditionpthe .mamspring, 10 and suppleTI mental spring' 15j i are :notydamped rlbythedamping devic e ,bu t,on the contrairytare let't free to absorb all ofthe small vibrations a major part of the time. This makes the car rideextremely easy over city streets, or where the roadway presentssmall-sized obstacles or depressions. The above results are obtained forthe reason that the range ot movement of lever l@ is so slight as to notexceed the free sliding movement ol' the lost motion connector link orovercome the amount of slack in flexible` element 3?. Vflien however'the vehicle'wheels strike a large-sized obstacle or depression, the eectof such abnormal shock will move the parts into the position shown inFig. T, wherein the main spring i0 is either straightened out or boweddownivardly` and the supplemental is compressed in the manner as shoi nin said figure. @wing to this compression ot the supplemental spring l5,lever vl-( is tilted so that its inner end moves upwardly apredetermined distance before imposinglrv any action on the dampingdevice, or until collar 35 comes into contact with the end ot' sleeve327 after which said tiltinglever is moved coincident withthe continuedupward travel oi the end ot' said lever 16. This movement ot thetilting-lever is sulicient7 or substantially so, to practically removethe slack from flexible element 37. As soon as the parts have reachedthe limit of their movement under compressive shocks, the naturalteiiidency ot' the resilient suspension system is to recede orrecoilimmediately toward normal position, which movement may be suiiicientlyviolent to carry said parts beyond the normal or rebound position7 andis well-known to disagreeably atleet the pleasures olf motor travel. The

position of the part-s oiimy invention the extreme limit oi' thisrebound or upthrow, is illustrated in Fig. 8. As the damping device wasset and theiiexibl'e element practically straip'htened out undercompressive movement of the vehicle parts)q it lwill be observed thatsoon as the parts recede from their compressed positioin the movementoi" separation oi? the main spring l0 and vehicle member l2 willimmediately exert, through flexible element 37, a downward pull on arm624i' oi the tilting-lever, so that the retardingj eLdect orf thedamping device is immediately brought into play to check and restraintoo rapid recoil movement or sepa-V ration of the main spring` l0 andtrame member l2. During; this action the main spring' may become bowedupwardly in excess to its i'ree unloaded form, while the supplementalspring l is correspondinglyextended. This extension ol the supplementalfearing at the time of rebound olf Vthe parts. c

scoiiic connection formed between the mem-l be'r of wtl'ie;connectorAlink 32, 231i.

Cil

Fig. l illustrates the parts `n their normal or static loadposition-under the normal loading of the vehicle-win which the spring orsprings play somewhat on each side of this position without actuatingthe `retarding device. l am aware that previous automobile manufacturershave used retarding devices having a neutral or nonactmg position. Suchprevious devices have always had what may be called a fixed neutralvpoint. ln the movements of body and axle members, this neutral point hasalways been fixed at the same relative position of the said members; andthis was an objectionable feat-ure, because the neutral point could beadjusted only for one load condition of the vehicle. lf the neutralpoint was set or adjusted for medium vehicle loads, then at light loadsthe body was floating too high to secure the advantage or effect of theneutral point setting of the retarding device; while at heavy loads, thebody floated too low to secure the best results of the fixed setting ofthe restraining mechanism.

ln my present invention, I attain the above mentioned new, and usefulfeature of a retarding device in which the vneutral or non-actingposition automatically follows and continually adjusts itself to theloading of the vehicle body.

At light loads, the first slight oscillations of the body and subsequentpull and push movements of the connector link 32, 34 and flexibleelement 37 on the tilting-lever will cause the latter to take a positionsomewhere near the dotted line A and to play in an angular range lineapproximately to such line.

When the body is heavily loaded the first few push and pull movements ofthe oneway connector link and flexible element 37 will cause thetilting-lever to take up a position near the dotted line B, and to playnear such angular line. Of course at all times, the tilting-lever willdepart from such positions when the movements of the axle or bodyelements exceed a predetermined range of travel; but for all smalloscillatory movements the neutral position of the damping device will beunaffected.

My method of obtaining this neutral effect has advantages not possessedby previously used forms, for the reason that with my arrangement theretarding or damping device is inactive at times when such dampingeffect is not needed, so that the wear on the parts of said device andits connections is correspondingly reduced. This feature of having theentire retarding or damping device standing idle when it is not needed,adds greatly to the durability of the parts, including its connections,thereby correspondingly reducing the noise and rattle incident to wearand looseness of such parts.

The foregoing description merely illustrativeof the principles of myinvention, and other n'iodiications thereof may be made that willvfunction in substantially the same manner without departing from thespirit of my invention, and I do not, therefore, desire to limit myselfto the use of any specific form of the parts illustrated.

Having thus fully described my said invention, what l claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. A spring suspension for vehicles which comprises the combination of avehicle frame member, a main spring, -a lever supported by the framemember, means for connecting an end of the main spring to anintermediate portion of the lever, a supplemental spring interposedbetween the lever and the frame member, a friction device carried on theframe member and having an oscillating arm, a one-way connector forconnecting the arm of the friction device with the lever, means on theconnector for varying the relative movements of the lever and arm, and asecond one-way connector for connecting the arm of the friction devicewith the main spring.

2. A spring suspension for vehicles which comprises the combination of avehicle frame member, a main spring, a lever supported by the framemember, means for connecting an end of the main spring to anintermediate portion of the lever, a supplemental spring interposedbetween the lever and the frame member, a friction device carried on theframe member and having an oscillating arm, a hollow sleeve carried onthe arm, a rod pivotally engaging the adjacent end of the lever and itsopposite end slidably engaging the sleeve, and means for operativelyconnecting the arm of the friction device with the main spring.

3. A spring suspension for vehicles which comprises the combination of avehicle frame member, a main spring, a lever supported by the framemember, means for connecting an end` of the main spring to anintermediate portion of the lever, a supplemental spring interposedbetween the lever and the frame member, a friction device 'carried onthe frame member and having an oscillating arm, a hollow sleeve carriedon the arm, a rod pivotally engaging the adjacent end of the lever andits opposite 'i end slidably engaging the sleeve, an adjustable collaron the rod for varying the relative movements of the rod and arm, and aflexible means for operatively connecting said arm of the frictiondevice with the main spring.

4. A resilient suspension system for vehicles which comprises tworelatively movable vehicle members, a lever pivotally connectedintermediate its ends to one of said members, means for pivotallyconnecting the lever with the other vehicle member, e supplementalspring interposed between the lever and one of said vehicle members, afriction device arranged on one of seid vehicle members, meansconsisting of a, one Way connector for connecting the friction device tothat vehicle member having an attachment with the lever.

5. A resilient lsuspension system for ve hicles which comprises thecombination of e. vehicle frame member, avmain spring, a leversupportedby the frame member, means for connecting an end of the mein'spring to an intermediate portion of the lever, a supplemental springinterposed between the Bonner n. HiissLER. [L 5.3

